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CBSE Board Exam 2019: Class 10 English Communicative Exam Pattern, Marking Scheme

CBSE Board Exam 2019: Class 10 English Communicative Exam Pattern, Marking Scheme

CBSE will conduct board exams for class 10 students in February and March 2019. With the board exams only a couple months away, students have begun to prepare for the D-day. It is imperative to look at the marking scheme and exam pattern to better strategize the board exam preparation. In this article we will discuss the exam pattern and marking scheme for English Communicative paper for class 10 students.

CBSE Class 10 English Communicative Exam Pattern

The English Communicative question paper will carry total 80 marks. There would be three sections in the questions paper: Reading, Writing and Grammar, and Literature.

Section A: Reading

Section A will carry 20 marks. There will be two passages. One passage will carry 8 marks and the second passage will carry 12 marks.

This section will test a students ability to read and understand a passage and answer questions based on the passage. The important point here is to read the passage carefully and grasp the main theme of the passage.

Section B: Writing and Grammar

The Writing and Grammar section will carry 30 marks. There would be total 5 questions in this section out of which two will cover writing part and three will cover grammar part. The writing part will carry 18 marks and grammar part will carry 12 marks.

The writing part will have essay/letter writing and story writing type questions. Grammar part will have fill in the blanks, sentence re-arrangement, and omission type questions.

Section C: Literature

The Literature part will carry 30 marks and will have four questions and each question will have an option. Students could choose any of the options to answer.

For literature section, students should read the texts carefully and memorize the names of the poems, stories and prescribed texts and their corresponding authors.

[“source=forbes]

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#CareerBytes: Preparation tips for engineers to crack the UPSC exam

UPSC exam preparation tips for engineers

The UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE), popularly known as the IAS exam, is one of the country’s toughest exams.

Many students dream of pursuing the civil services and serve the country and a majority of these IAS aspirants are engineers who have been dominating the space.

If you’re an engineer and want to crack the UPSC exam, here are some preparation tips for you.

[“source=TimeOFIndia”]

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Top 5 must-knows for education loan tax deduction

Education plays a crucial role in the economic development of all societies. While there is a universal acknowledgement to the need for public funding of primary and secondary education, public funding of higher education in a developing country like India is not feasible.

Thus, recognising the importance of higher education and the role of institutional funding to deal with rising cost of higher education, the policymakers came out with tax deduction on education loans under Section 80E.

The objective was to relieve interest burden from education loan borrowers through tax incentives. However, to claim the tax deduction, the borrowers have to meet certain conditions.

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Here is a list of ‘must-knows’ regarding tax deduction on education loans:

Principal component does not qualify for tax deduction:

Borrowers often misunderstand tax exemption provisions available on education loan. This stems from tax exemptions available on home loan where both principal and interest components of EMIs qualify for tax deductions under Section 80C and 24b, respectively.

However, in the case of education loans, the repayment of principal amount does not qualify for tax deduction. Only the interest component of education loan EMI qualifies for tax deduction under Section 80E.

The lack of tax deduction for principal repayment in education loan has been somewhat compensated by the absence of an upper cap on claiming tax deduction on interest payment. You can claim the entire interest component for tax deduction.

Not all education loans qualify for tax deduction:

The tax deduction available under Section 80E is applies only to education loans availed from banks, financial institutions notified under the Income Tax Act and approved charitable institutions. You cannot claim tax deduction on funds borrowed from family members or friends for higher education.

Similarly, not all NBFC education loans will qualify for tax deduction. Only those education loans availed from non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) notified by the central government through official Gazette as a ‘Financial Institution’ for the purpose of education loan tax deduction will qualify for the deduction.

This is especially relevant as banks are increasingly getting cautious with education loans due to the rising non-performing assets in the segment. Since the NBFCs are aggressively pushing to fill in this gap, students may get education loans from NBFCs with relative ease. Hence, to ensure that you do not miss out on the Section 80E tax deduction later, check out whether that NBFC has been notified as such through the official Gazette.

Tax deduction period is capped for 8 years:

Tenures of education loan can go up to 15 years. However, the period of availing tax deduction under Section 80E has been capped at 8 years. You can claim the tax deduction from the year of the commencement of your repayment period.

For example, even if you complete the repayment of your education loan within 12 years, the tax deduction under Section 80E can only be claimed for the interest repaid within 8 years of the commencement of your repayment period.

Only loans taken for higher studies qualify for tax deduction:

Tax deduction under Section 80E is only available for loans taken for pursuing higher education. Section 80E defines ‘higher education’ as any full-time course pursued after passing the Senior Secondary Examination or its equivalent from any educational institutes, board or universities recognised by the government or local authorities.

Even vocational studies and courses pursued outside India would qualify for deduction under Section 80E. However, the courses need to be post-senior secondary education.

Education loans taken for certain relationships will qualify for tax deduction:

Education loan taken for pursuing higher studies for self, children, spouse or for a student for whom one is a legal guardian would qualify for tax deduction.

Thus, parents and legal guardians are eligible to claim the deduction for the interest component paid by them.

However, one cannot claim this deduction for education loans taken for his sibling or other relatives. Moreover, only the borrower who has availed the education loan can claim the tax deduction.

For example, if a person takes an education loan for his child, spouse or his legal ward, only he can claim the tax deduction. The student, i.e. the child, spouse or his legal ward, cannot claim the deduction even if the loan is repaid from his funds after the completion of his studies.

However, if the loan is taken in the joint names of parent/legal guardian and child/legal ward, then both of them will have the flexibility to claim the tax deduction based on their tax liability.

[“source=forbes]

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IBPS Clerk exam 2018: Topic-wise preparation strategy

IBPS Clerk 2018, ibps clerk admit card, ibps clerk prelims prepare,

The IBPS clerk exam is conducted online in two phases. The first phase is the preliminary exam will be held on December 8, 9 and December 15, 16. The second phase is the mains examination that will be conducted once the result of prelims will be out, that is, in January. Candidates need to clear both the phases of the test for final selection.

IBPS Clerk topic-wise: Preparation strategy

English Grammar: Some important question types are as mentioned below

Error Spotting
Idioms and phrases
Active and passive voice
Arrangement and re-arrangement of sentences
Direct and indirect speech

Vocabulary: Some important question types are as mentioned below-
Cloze Test
Synonyms
Antonyms
Homonyms
Spellings

Reading Comprehension: Some important question types are as mentioned below:
Theme Based
Conclusion Based

Reasoning: Need to be up to date on some of the below-mentioned topics

Classification
— Series completion, analogy, direction based/sequence
— Number, ranking, time sequence, coding decoding, Inequalities
— Syllogism, data sufficiency, Direction sense, seating arrangements puzzles, input output machines etc.

Numerical Ability section
— Simplification, problem on ages, percentage
— Average, simple interest/compound interest
— Profit and loss, ratio and proportions
— Data interpretation etc.

Need to be up to date on calculation skills this can be done by learning shortcut methods
— Multiplication tables up to 25
— List of squares and cubes from 1 to 25
— Common percentages and their fractional & decimal equivalents

General tips
Revision of what you have studied is important as this will help you in making your preparations for final selection.
— Make small notes for yourself to help you with your revision.
— Divide the section on the basis of strong, average and weakest areas.
— Gain 90 per cent accuracy in your strongest areas and then move on to re-examine your weak areas.
— Attempt as many mock tests as you can
— Check the place where you do mistakes and avoid repeating them by recognising your mistake patterns.

Time management: IBPS exams are about time and accuracy so it is important how you attempt the question paper to ensure accuracy within the limited time frame. It is important to divide the time between sections and in what order questions should be attempted. Normally one should be able to read the entire question paper and attempt all doable questions in one go. The second round should be for tougher questions.

Accuracy: Since the IBPS Clerk examination has negative marking for wrong answers so it is important that you minimise the number of wrong answers and negative marking so that marks per question gets maximised which leads to the increase in accuracy.

[“source=forbes]

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KU Law launches free bar exam preparation program

KU student studying

With their law degree in hand, the only thing standing between graduates and their legal careers is the bar exam. A new program at the University of Kansas School of Law will help KU students clear that hurdle without the added financial pressure of paying for a bar review course.

Through an innovative partnership with Themis Bar Review, KU Law’s Free Bar Prep Program will provide a comprehensive suite of preparation resources – including a post-graduation commercial bar review course – to every student at no cost. December 2018 graduates will be the first beneficiaries.

“KU Law is already a Best Value Law School ranked 18th in the nation for overall bar pass rate. But we want to do even better,” said Stephen Mazza, dean of the law school. “Research shows that graduates who take commercial prep courses pass the bar exam at higher rates, and we want to set our students up for success as they launch their careers. Covering the cost of their study is a worthwhile investment. To our knowledge, KU is the only school taking this approach.”

Through the program, all KU Law students receive the following:

  • Post-graduation Themis Bar Review course
  • Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) preparation course
  • Themis first-year and upper-level Law School Essentials materials
  • First-year diagnostic exam
  • Option to enroll in Early Bar Preparation course for law school credit
  • Access to on-site bar examination instructors

In July 2018, 100 percent of KU Law graduates who completed at least 75 percent of the Themis prep course passed the Kansas and Missouri bar exams on their first attempt.

“Students have enough to worry about before the bar exam. Whether they can afford an adequate bar prep course will no longer be a concern for KU Law students, and that is fantastic,” said Joel Thompson, a third-year law student at KU. “It’s comforting to know I attend a law school committed to helping all students succeed.”

The bar examination is a test intended to determine whether candidates are qualified to practice law in a given jurisdiction. The bar exam is administered twice a year, in February and July. Most students graduate in May and take the summer exam. Commercial bar preparation courses typically cost several thousand dollars.

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The university’s mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world. The KU News Service is the central public relations office for the Lawrence campus.

[“source=forbes]

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A GradHacker Exam Prep Roundup

Judging by the number of GradHackers who have recently taken exams, will shortly be taking exams, and/or are seriously-right-this-minute sitting their exams, I declare October and November Graduate Exam Season!

To help you (as well as ourselves) through this trying time, here is a link roundup dedicated to all those exam preppers, ABD achievers, and oral exam completers out there!

Regardless of which sort of exam you are getting ready to take, you cannot proceed without a good note-taking system. That’s why Emily VanBuren’s 5 Strategies for Organizing Notes for Comprehensive Exams is such an invaluable guide. Back when this was written, I was six months away from my first written exam. I borrowed Emily’s Wiki idea, and it worked wonders! Maybe there is a new strategy in there for you, too.

  • Surviving Studying for Comprehensive Exams, by Stephanie Hedge: Maybe you have just finished up your coursework and you are just starting to think about your quals, or maybe you are realizing that your current study habits are not doing you any good. Either way Stephanie’s advice is a great guide that keeps you focused on your goals (passing) while also not losing your mind in the process. My favorite recommendation is to enlist others. After all, you have a network, so why not use it?
  • Surviving Writing Comprehensive Exams, by Stephanie Hedge: A follow up to her previous post, this article talks about what you need to do to physically sit in a chair and take your written exam. From how to set up your workspace, to how not to psych yourself out, Stephanie reminds you to take a deep breath, jot down ideas as they come, and remember that everyone is rooting for you! Yes, you might still have an epic freak out an hour in (you certainly wouldn’t be alone), but her advice will help calm you down and get back on track. Just remember: Relax, and it will be okay.
  • Deconstructing the Written Comprehensive Exam, by K. D. Shives: “While straightforward and fairly simple, it can be helpful to have guidelines in mind while writing something as large as a comprehensive exam proposal. This can help take some of the dread out of the process so that you can enjoy the opportunity to put your own ideas together.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
  • Qualifying Exam Proposal Checklist, by Megan Poorman: In this post, Megan shares with you her “QUAL resource binder,” a series of things she did while planning to take her oral exam. This includes the groundwork she laid in advance with her committee, how she created an achievable study plan, and a note on maintaining a good mindset. In fact, she shares her actual checklist, including everything you should consider at each stage in your preparation.
  • Surviving and Thriving During Quals, by Natasha Chtena: Less about studying, this post focuses on you—the test taker. Is your desk uncomfortable or too cluttered? Fix it now, says Natasha. Are you going to need to eat in the weeks leading up to your test? Meal prep early on, she says, so that you have healthy food ready. And so on. Natasha’s advice will make the experience of studying a bit less physically demanding even as you are mentally stressed.
  • [“source=forbes]
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Student loans: Low risk, attractive yield

Vince Passione

A college education continues to be one of the best investments a young person can make in terms of their earning potential, especially as it has become more of a requirement for the workplace.

The percentage of men and women with college degrees is at an all-time high, according to Statista 2017, and the number of Gen Z students going to college will continue to rise over the next several years, the National Center for Education Studies reports.

However, outcomes matter, and parents and students need to think more deliberately about what career the student will be pursuing and if that career justifies the investment.

Due to rising costs associated with attending college, education lending, including education refinancing and private, in-school student loans, will continue to grow.

We’ve also seen rising rates contribute to the increase of graduates refinancing their student loans to fixed-rate student loans to either reduce how much interest they’re paying or to lower their monthly payments.

We’ve also seen rising rates contribute to the increase of graduates refinancing their student loans to fixed-rate student loans to either reduce how much interest they’re paying or to lower their monthly payments.

The cost of education sets the standard for the amount of loans needed, and as schools continue to raise their tuition rates above the rate of inflation, demand for education loans has continued to increase.

Since federal loans are capped in terms of loan amount, private in-school student loans are a solution for students who have run out of financing options. These students look to their community for assistance, and this is where credit unions come into play.

Student loan refinancing is pitted against rising interest rates. The rise in rates is driving more students with variable interest rate loans to refinance their student loans at a lower fixed rate.

Eighty-percent of LendKey’s student loan refinancings are fixed-rate loans. The opportunity to capture these highly educated borrowers at the beginning of their credit journeys can lead to additional lending opportunities as their needs evolve over time.

Credit unions have started to enter these asset classes with vigor, but only a few are deploying more than 1-2% of their capital into this expansive asset class. Default rates have been low historically, and more credit unions will continue to invest in these growing asset classes to appeal to younger generations, as well as get attractive yield returns relative to other options.

[“source=forbes]

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AG Beshear calls on federal authorities to discharge for-profit college student loans when schools close

Attorney General Andy Beshear has called on federal authorities to immediately discharge the loans of Kentucky students who attended for-profit colleges that closed down while students were enrolled mid-program.

Beshear and a coalition of attorneys general are urging U.S. Education Department Secretary Betsy DeVos to fulfill her obligation under federal law to provide immediate and automatic loan relief to borrowers after a recent federal court ruling.

Beshear

On Oct. 16, the department’s 2016 “borrower defense” regulations went into effect after a federal court held that the department’s repeated delay attempts were unlawful.

Under the department’s automatic closed-school discharge regulations, eligible students are those who attended a school when it closed on or after Nov. 1, 2013, and who did not subsequently re-enroll in an eligible program within three years from the date the school closed.

It is estimated that under federal law, tens of thousands of students nationwide who attended any of the 1,400 schools that closed in 2014 and 2015 – including Corinthian Colleges – are eligible for approximately $400 million in automatic debt relief.

Beshear said the regulations sensibly address the problem by automatically discharging eligible borrowers.

“In Kentucky students attending schools that closed have been left with no degree or benefit and substantial student loan debt, and they are entitled to have their loans discharged with no further action on their part,” Beshear said. “My office will continue to fight for all Kentuckians as consumers but more importantly as students who want to better themselves and their families.”

Among the 42 campuses in Kentucky that have closed since Nov. 1, 2013, are ITT Tech that closed its Louisville and Lexington campuses, and Daymar College that closed 10 campuses in Kentucky. Daymar’s campus in Bowling Green remains open.

Beshear’s office is committed to holding for-profit colleges accountable in Kentucky and is working to help defrauded students.

Earlier this year, The Office of Attorney General won its case against American National University, (formerly known as National College) in Fayette Circuit Court alleging that National College violated the Kentucky Consumer Protection Act by advertising false and misleading employment rates for its graduates.

Separate from school closures, students defrauded or cheated by their school may also be eligible for loan relief based on a federal program known as “defense to repayment.” This program gives victimized students the opportunity to have their federal student loans forgiven. When students submit a borrower-defense claim, they can request to have their loans placed in forbearance and to halt collection attempts, even on defaulted loans, Beshear said.

In 2017, Beshear secured federal debt relief for approximately 2,000 Kentuckians, many of them veterans, who were victimized by predatory practices by Corinthian Colleges Inc.

In 2016, Beshear announced nearly 3,500 former students of Daymar College’s Kentucky campuses and online programs would receive restitution checks totaling $1.2 million. The payments were pursuant to a settlement agreement the Office of the Attorney General entered into with Daymar in 2015 resolving a consumer protection lawsuit.

[“source=forbes]

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SOS: Bills return after student loans paid off

Student loan debt

Garrett Hansen wonders if most people who have already paid off tens of thousands of dollars in student loans would even think twice about paying an unexpected, but comparatively small, $779.55 bill from their student loan servicer.

It made Hansen think, though, and more than twice. Then it took him and SOS two months to get it zeroed out.

Hansen, 33, of Milwaukee, contacted SOS in August with a story that sounds a lot like the kind of recurring nightmare a deeply indebted recent college grad might have: He had a letter from March 2017 showing his loans were paid off, but then in June of this year started getting bills from Madison-based student loan servicer Great Lakes Higher Education Corp.

Hansen estimates he spent dozens of hours on the phone with multiple people from Great Lakes, the U.S. Department of Education, and a Pennsylvania loan servicer to which he was referred. Why Pennsylvania? He doesn’t know. He’s never attended college in the Keystone State.

After all that about the most he could say was that “the charge regards a ‘manual adjusted interest cap subsidy’ from the DOE” prior to when he consolidated his loans in November 2012.

“I have been told by multiple people at Great Lakes (GL) that they have never seen one go back this far and be charged this much,” he said via email on Aug. 29. “I have also been told ‘unofficially’ by GL that they were going to eat the cost but no one will confirm or anything. I have also been told (by GL) … that I need to pay it because I ‘owe’ it without any further information as to why, which just seems ludicrous to me.”

Great Lakes was less talkative when contacted by SOS, with spokesman Brett Lindquist saying that due to “privacy rules,” he couldn’t share any information about Hansen’s case but would pass it along to “our Borrower Services team,” which was to contact Hansen directly.

A DOE spokesman, who didn’t want to be identified by name, wouldn’t talk until he got a release-of-information form from Hansen, which SOS emailed to Hansen, Hansen signed and snail-mailed to SOS, and SOS snail-mailed to the spokesman.

Then the spokesman informed SOS that the $779.55 stemmed from information Hansen’s prior servicer had shared with the feds, and reflected “interest that had not been properly capitalized on his loan.”

In other words, someone involved in making sure Hansen paid back his loans, plus interest, didn’t count the beans correctly.

Now the DOE “has determined that the amount billed to Mr. Hansen will be considered as a part of the original paid in full payment,” the spokesman said, as “Mr. Hansen paid his account in full according to the information that he had received from the servicer.”

On Oct. 27, Hansen got a letter from Great Lakes saying much the same thing, and wiping out what was now — after interest had accrued — an $858.41 bill. He says he’ll be keeping the letter, as evidence, for a long time.

[“source=forbes]

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Know Your Student Loan Consumer Rights

College girl with money in class

While many new college undergraduates borrow money to pay for college, not all of their debt comes from federal student loans.

In fact, borrowers owed a combined total of $118.17 billion in private student loans in the first quarter of this year, according to a report released by MeasureOne. The semi-annual report includes information from six student loan lenders, such as Citizens Bank, Discover Bank, Navient Inc., PNC Bank, Sallie Mae Bank and Wells Fargo & Co.

The main difference between the two loan categories is federal student loans are backed by the U.S. Department of Education while private loans are funded by private organizations, such as credit unions, banks, online lenders and state-affiliated organizations. This sometimes raises questions about the differences in borrowers’ rights for federal and private student loans.

In addition to the proposed 2015 Student Loan Borrower Bill of Rights that failed to gain traction in a Republican-controlled Congress, there have been recent amendments to revive the effort to expand protections for private student loan borrowers.

Currently, there are several consumer protections in place for federal and private student loan borrowers. The Student Loan Ranger will explore these rights and how these protections relate to different stages of the borrowing and repayment process.

[Read: 6 Tips to Make Extra Student Loan Payments Correctly.]

Borrowers are protected under several federal laws. The Truth in Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Federal Trade Commission Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Act all provide a level of protection for private student loan borrowers. The same applies to federal student loans; however, the borrowing process does not require an assessment of a person’s financial capacity or a review of credit history for most federal loans, with the exception of Parent and Graduate PLUS loans.

All borrowers have a right to a full disclosure of terms before signing a loan agreement.

Consumers have debt collection rights. While you may have the benefit of different options for affordable repayment of your private student loans, access to special programs is not a protected right. For that reason, it may be necessary to consider restructuring your loans when it becomes difficult to maintain on-time payments.

Restructuring a private loan may include refinancing a single loan or consolidating multiple loans into one. For short-term affordable repayment solutions, borrowers may choose deferment or forbearance. Debt forgiveness is not a right or guarantee, but there are cases of extreme hardship that may qualify for a loan discharge. The same considerations are true for federal student loans with the additional options associated with income-driven repayment programs, like the Pay As You Earn Plan, known as PAYE, or the Income-Based Repayment Plan, often called IBR.

[Read:What Student Loan Borrowers Should Know About Robocalls.]

Collection of federal and nonfederal student loan debt is regulated by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The FDCPA protects borrowers from being misled, harassed or subject to abusive practices by debt collectors. Similar to collecting an outstanding credit card balance, a debt collector may not threaten legal action unless they are going to follow through, they cannot misrepresent the amount owed or lie about how and when the debt can be collected.

Federal loans offer guaranteed repayment options, so if a debt collector makes any false or misleading statements about those choices, it could be a violation of the law. The same is true if a collector discusses a federal student loan debt with a third party without consent of the borrower.

Complaints can be filed at the federal level and in some states. Borrowers have the right to file a dispute if they are eligible for a discharge, the loan amount is incorrect or they’re experiencing a financial hardship. In the case of fraud, borrowers have the right to dispute a student loan balance if they can prove the loan was a direct result of identity theft. Record-keeping errors on the part of the lender are also within your right to dispute.

Borrowers defrauded by a higher education institution may also be eligible for a loan discharge. Earlier this month, a federal judge ordered the implementation of the Obama-era Borrower Defense rules, which protects borrowers who have been defrauded by a college or university. Borrowers who think they may qualify can file a borrower defense claim at studentaid.ed.gov.

[Read: How Overhauling the Gainful Employment Rule May Affect Student Loan Borrowers.]

Apart from federal protections, there are several states that have introduced new legislation to protect student loan borrowers. This is a steadily evolving situation as new bills are introduced each year. California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Illinois and Washington, to name a few, have already passed consumer protection laws for student loan borrowers.

If you feel that your rights have been violated at any stage of the process, it is important to file a report immediately. A complaint can be submitted online through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If the complaint involves any threats of violence, a report should be filed with local law enforcement.

The Student Loan Ranger advises borrowers to consider the role of officials in their states. It can be helpful to report suspected violations to your state’s attorney general.

[“source=forbes]